1.5 trillion dollars. You could buy all of the teams in the NFL (and no, you can’t get a discount if you include the Lions!) and have change left over. You could buy 3.2 MILLION homes at today’s US median home price. You could pay the US Department of Defense budget, one of our largest budget items, for all of 2016 … TWICE! That’s the amount of new debt the proposed Republican tax plan will add to the deficit over its first ten years.
So, let’s look a little closer.
The right has claimed they are the party of the balanced budget … NOPE!
The tax cuts being proposed are expected to increase the deficit (1.5 trillion dollars from above). This is being acknowledged from members of both the right and the left.
The right has claimed this is a tax plan for the middle class … NOPE!
Around 70% of the tax benefits would go to people earning six figures or more (about 23% of all filers) and the majority of that would go to the highest earners, the infamous 1%, who will see a 40 to 60% tax cut!
The right has claimed this tax plan will benefit workers … NOPE! NOPE! NOPE!
A linchpin of this plan is a reduction in the corporate tax rate from 35% to 20% and assorted rules changes that concern money earned outside the US (allows this cash to return to the US with little to no tax) which would allow businesses to invest more, creating jobs, increasing economic growth, and generating additional taxes to help pay for the cost of reductions. That’s all fine and dandy, but then Trump’s own Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, addressed a gathering of businessmen and merchants in Columbus, Ohio recently and asked for a show of hands on who would invest tax savings in manpower and facilities. Only a few hands were raised. Befuddled, he asked what the group would do with it.
They responded with a litany – increased dividends, mergers and acquisitions, stock buy-backs, etc. Jobs and increased wages for employees were conspicuously absent—and I suspect Trump knows this, he is a businessman after all. His intent seems to be to help those who have the most while the rest of us get “trickled” on. That’s something I am getting a little tired of and I sincerely hope you are too! A quote from Frank Mathews with the Communication Workers of America is chilling – “Once this millionaire tax scam is complete, those in power will cry poor, and then they will come after Medicare and Social Security.” Many believe these to be off-limits but as any retiree in Michigan knows, nothing is off-limits when it comes to tax breaks for business. Think about it.
The Skilled Trade Christmas Meeting is scheduled for December 14 from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Local 652 Union Hall. Food and beverage provided with a $3 donation at the door. I hope to see you there!
I’d like to wish a safe and happy holiday to everyone! Enjoy your loved ones and enjoy the time you spend with them. It all passes too quickly!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!